Train Schedules

Here we go again.

I'm once again training for a baby triathlon. I mean a try-a-tri triathlon (one guy actually thought I did triathlons with babies…I don't know). Anyway, the time frame is similar to the last one with 6 weeks to go, (see: http://www.morethanatri.blogspot.com/)…but the motivation is pretty different.

Last time, as it turned out I had a broken heart to mend…this time, no broken heart...simply a number of bad habits developed over the winter to break. A colleague of mine moonlights as a personal trainer and his fee pour moi? A latte. I offered an americano but...a hard bargain, he drives.

Last night, I started the regimen. A strict 6-week-at-6-days-with-Sundays-off training schedule. Hello! No time for Yoga Mondays. No room for two-bite Tuesdays. No excuses for missing burpee Wednesdays. I'm locked and ready.

My enthusiasm masked any fatigue last night, but I wasn't so lucky this morning. It was tough…and it will just get harder. Hopefully I'll have cameo appearances from my favourite sparring buddies, but for the most part I've got to rely on myself for motivation.

That, and the fear of J every morning when he asks how things are going. I got a customized program and a face every morning as a part of the deal. The face of delight is good…face of disapointment, bad.

Not a terrible rule to go by in general.

Morning Glory

I went for a run this morning before work. It was kind of an important day and I find I function best when I start the day with activity.

I managed to do my 20 minutes between rainy shifts.

The combination of the rainy afterglow and the natural morning light made everything look so….so vibrant. It was as if it had this new day energy. New week energy. New month energy. New season energy.

Regardless, it was good energy.

…and I carried that with me all day.

Yoga with chocolate on top

Mondays are made better with weekly yoga in Roncesvalles with N.

The 90 minutes of mindful breathing and stretching undoes whatever post-weekend shock Monday had to your system .

Unfortunately, our yoga high is threatened by the bike ride home. Dundas is pretty scary to ride due to construction, streetcar tracks and wonky intersections. Upon reaching the top of the bridge just west of Landsdowne, however,  the ride redeems itself.

From there, I see the Toronto skyline and I smell chocolate from the Aero factory. What a weekly treat for my senses. And if lights go my way, I can use that momentum all the way home.

Yoga, Toronto and chocolate.  Mondays: not for complaining anymore.

Grand Cayman

I don’t have much to say about my trip to Grand Cayman except that it was superb. I developed a bit of a crush on the island to be honest.

We weren't overly exposed to tourism so the island came off as pretty humble. It maintained it's own identity amongst the offshore cruise ships and invading ghostly gringos. J and I stayed with a friend from university. His house was incredible…but the backyard was probably the greatest backyard ever. Ever. Infinite hot tub, infinite pool, ocean. I've never been much of a water girl but this converted me.

During the day our view was the aqua horizon. Late at night, with just the sounds of unidentified mating calls we would just stare out into black nothing.

Our days were filled with lounging and watery activity….evenings, with barbeque and cards.

Superb.

Tea-lightful

In university I drank a tonne of coffee. Multiple times a day. Everyday.

I've since discovered my aversion to caffeine. I don't react well at all, so I switched to tea. An herbal natural way to get jacked in the AM.

Tazo berryblossom white tea was my preferred poison. Boxes of this stuff followed me whereever I purched. Home. Work. Boyfriend's. Sister's. And then out of nowhere, it was discontinued. Bam. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was forced to ration my stash, determining if the day was worthy of my finite supply.

I decided it made for a good opportunity to branch out and discover new teas. And it did, but I still had a soft spot for the white tea with the delightful hint of berryness.

One day I came home to a care package from my girlfriend from BC…it was a bubble envelope full of THE tea. She found it, thought of me, bought it and mailed it. So amazing. Another girlfriend, bought up Kensington's supply last weekend.

Do I not have the most thoughtful friends ever?? Yes, and I talk a lot about my tea.

I'm drinking some of it right now, and can't help but think how lucky I am.

Today is oh so worthy.

Here and now

I have a new mantra.

Here and now.

That's it. Not entirely spiritual or profound but for me right now…it says exactly what I need it to.

I gave the Power of Now a go. I'm a start from the beginning kind of girl…but when a book don't grab me, I'm not much of a middle and end kind of girl. I have a hard time getting into non-fiction…non-narrative non-fiction to be precise. So as much as Tolle has changed many lives…I find myself impatient with his words.

I read enough to know that I do not embrace daily what he was preaching. I live in the past. The future. Not so much the now. What a pity. I'm living my life with my head in the clouds...reaching for something, whether it's in front or behind or just in my head. Never enjoying where I am. What's right here.

Missing out.

Since adopting this mantra, I find myself periodically taking a deep breath and taking inventory of the daily wonders right around me.

That's a start!

And it was all Yellow

I grew up without pets. There was a hamster, but that did not end well. So…that was that.

Years later, my brother married a nice girl with a nice dog. She was blond and she was super friendly and she could catch a mean frisbee. Yellow was the greatest dog EVER.

Throughout the years I've been charged with taking care of her. She gained a lot of fans along the way. Every roommate, every visitor, every stranger instantly fell in love with the lab named not for the colour of her fur but for a butterfly in a children's book.

She was gentle and loved people more than her own kind. Who are we kidding...she was part people, right?

Nah, there was a 12-lb turkey incident proving she was all dog, but who could look at those sad brown eyes and wagging tail and stay mad?

Not me.

Alas, her time has come. I'm sad to say farewell to my dear friend. She kept me company on cold nights. She mooed with cows. She chased s-q-u-i-r-r-e-l-s. She understood. She stole my heart.   

Sweet dreams Yellow dog. xox